


Bubblegum Pop

by Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: F/F, Mentions of underage drinking, because it's haku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-25 11:45:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14377965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate/pseuds/Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate
Summary: Haku is absolutely sick of this "Hatsune Miku" girl and her generic music. It's obnoxious, boring, and absolutely EVERYWHERE.





	Bubblegum Pop

Haku works in a café, which means she hears a lot of music. It blares over the speakers all day long, providing a modern ambiance to the humble establishment as customers take their seats and eat their food, the tapping of laptop keys coming from the hipsters in the corner. All in all, it's an uneventful job, and Haku absolutely hates it.

Then again, Haku hates mostly everything; children, vegetables, driving...pretty much anything that isn't alcohol, really, but ESPECIALLY pop music.

This is why this "Hatsune Miku" girl aggravates her more than anything.

Haku is familiar with some of the current pop stars. She doesn't like listening to music that often due to personal reasons, but she's pretty sure she knows from working in the café who Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is or some other shit like that. All in all, she thinks it's garbage, but Miku in particular gets on her nerves.

She can't quite put her finger on it, but something about Miku is just too goddamn happy for her tastes. She doesn't understand why her music plays so often, or why she even has any fans. It's just stereotypical teenage bubblegum pop. Granted, Haku is only a bit older than most of the people who listen to that kind of stuff, so she's not exactly one to judge this "new generation" while being a member of said generation. Even so, she hates it, and she pretty much has to hear it every day because of her job.

The café never gets particularly packed, being one of those small-town local places. If it was even remotely popular, then Haku could understand why they always played contemporary pop over the radio, but the only people who come to eat are the occasional family and a group of hipsters who write poetry or screenplays or whatever emo underground shit they did. They hate all that mainstream crap, so why play it on the radio all the goddamn time?

Regardless, Haku knows that there's nothing she can do about it. She'll probably be working this dead-end job for all eternity, so why complain if there's no point in it all? She knows she has no future ahead of her; she just turned 19 years old and she's already wasted her entire life. No point in trying to change it with petty complaints.

She's just thinking this as she's washing the dishes, preparing to close up shop for the night (her bastard coworkers have left her on cleaning duty), when the door opens with a chime.

"Hello?" a melodic voice calls out. "Are you still open?"

 _Shit,_ Haku thinks, _I forgot to change to sign._ Oh, well. She's powerless to change the situation, as always, so she might as well just run with it.

"Yeah," she says simply, "come on in. But hurry up, we're closing soon."

"Thank you!" replies the voice, and Haku turns around lazily to get a look at the face accompanying it. Her eyebrows raise slightly when she does, and she feels like she should definitely know who it is.

The person sitting down at the counter is a girl about a few years younger than her, but definitely within her age range. If she had to make a guess, she'd put her age at 16 or 17 at least. She has bright blue eyes that shine with unbridled optimism and a cheerful smile to match. She's wearing a large beanie that obscures her hair, and the hood of a thick magenta hoodie covers the rest.

"Does this place get crowded?" the girl asks, looking around at the empty café. Haku glances up in acknowledgement, but immediately returns to her work.

"Not really. 'Specially not at this hour." She makes sure to add a little snark to her words, but the girl doesn't seem to notice.

"Oh, that's great!" she replies enthusiastically. "I don't mind crowds, you know, but sometimes it's nice to just get away from it all every once in a while!"

"Mhm," Haku mutters, halfheartedly tossing a menu onto the table, "here ya go."

"Thank you!" the girl chirps, sounding genuinely grateful. That almost manages to warm Haku's heart a little, but just barely. She shakes it off and goes back to washing the dishes, mentally groaning at the thought of having to wash more once this chick is done.

The girl stares at the menu intently, an almost comical look of concentration etched on her face. For some reason, Haku can't stop glancing at it. Maybe she's just letting her mind drift too far? Yeah, that's probably it.

"Aha!" the girl cries. "I'll have some honeydew bubble tea, please!"

Well, at least her order is easy to make. Haku gives a semi-focused grunt as she walks over to take the menu, idly taking note of the way the girl tucks a few strands of hair underneath her beanie. It's too quick for Haku to take note of the color, not that she cares. She doesn't even know why she noticed such a thing in the first place.

The café is silent for a little while, save for the music playing over the radio. The girl at the table hums along to the song, and Haku can't help but admire the set of pipes she has. She wanted to be a singer, too, when she was younger. Unfortunately, she figured out the hard way that her voice isn't nearly anything to write home about. That's why she's here, at this dumb café, working this dead-end job.

She shakes her head, snapping herself out of her own pointless moping. She has a customer; why is she being so stupid? She digs out some boba and pours some water before setting them in a saucepan to cook.

As she stirs idly, a new song starts up on the radio, and Haku can't stop herself from groaning in annoyance when she hears that it's a Hatsune Miku song. Great. Just fucking great. As if her frustration meter isn't already high enough.

"What's wrong?" the girl at the table asks, actual concern in her voice. Haku sighs for what feels like the tenth time that night. Oh, well, she got herself into this.

"I can't stand Hatsune Miku," she says, pulling out her spoon once the boba rises to the top of the mixture, "all her songs are the same. She's got a good voice, I'll give her that, but she's just too happy for me. Not to mention she's _everywhere_."

"...Oh." The girl at the table sounds unusually deflated. Haku turns around abruptly, setting aside the honeydew syrup. Fuck, she had hurt her feelings, hadn't she? Of course she had. She's not exactly the most tactful person in the world, and she knows it. This girl is obviously one of those Miku superfans, and she had just insulted her idol.

"Oh, geez, uh..." Haku stammers, trying to find the right words to say, "Look, I'm sorry if you like her. I mean, I don't _hate_ her by any means, I just hear her all the time, y'know? Working here everyday, you kinda get used to what's on the radio, understand?" Is she making it worse? Probably. She makes everything worse. She mentally curses at herself.

The girl gives her a faint smile, once again tucking some hair back under her beanie before Haku can notice it.

"It's fine," she says, "I don't like her _that_ much." She seems to pause for a minute, as if a new thought has just occurred to her, before she asks a question. "How would you like her music to be?"

It's not a question Haku is expecting, that's for sure. Shit, when was the last time anybody has ever asked her about her opinion? She can't remember, but this girl seems genuinely interested in what she has to say, which takes her a while to get used to before she answers.

"Um...I don't listen to a lot of music, really," Haku admits, "so I don't really care. Just something different, I guess. I don't know."

"You don't sound very sure," the girl observes, surprisingly shrewd, "what's the matter? I'm not going to get mad at you or anything."

Haku blushes (fucking _blushes_ , when was the last time she goddamn _blushed_?) and rubs at her arm absentmindedly. "Well, that's probably because I'm not sure. I've never been asked a question like that before, that's all."

"Nonsense!" the girl reassures. "You have friends, don't you? Family? Surely, they care about what you think!"

Haku falls silent, completely forgetting that she's supposed to be making the bubble tea. She's never thought much about her family; a naggy mom with no real concern for her interests and a dad who was never around. That was just the way things went for her growing up, and it's all over and done with now that she's moved out. But friends? Did she ever have any friends? For some reason, Haku can't recall.

"Oh," the girl gasps, as if she's just said something wrong, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't intrude. That's probably personal." She looks so damn guilty, Haku wants to slap herself for being so stupid.

"No, no, it's my fault," she hastily explains, "I shouldn't have opened my mouth in the first place. Don't worry about it."

The girl is silent for a long time, and Haku is too. By now, she's abandoned the bubble tea. She just focuses on her feet, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

"Hey."

Haku looks up, startled, as the girl calls her over. Cautiously, she sits down in the seat across from her, looking into her big, caring eyes.

"It's okay," she says, and Haku feels compelled to agree with her even though she's wrong, "If you want, I can be your friend!"

Haku blinks. "What?"

The girl giggles, and again Haku is taken aback by the beauty of her voice. Her laughter sounds like a song, a song so strikingly familiar yet so soothing that Haku doesn't care about anything else. "I said I can be your friend!"

Now, Haku knows there are a multitude of ways she can respond to this. She could accept jovially, crying tears of joy like one of those overly-dramatic movie stars. She could decline, her hair blowing in the wind as she rides off into the sunset to live a life of solitary adventure. Instead, she simply stutters out a, "Huh?"

"Here!" The girl reaches for a napkin and pulls out a pen from her small purse. She hastily scribbles something on it and stands up, passing it over to Haku as if it were no big deal. "This is my number. You can call me anytime you want!"

Was- was this girl _flirting_ with her?! ...No, no, she seemed to oblivious to the implications of her words. Haku could see by a look in her eyes that no romantic intent was behind her request. And yet, for some goddamn reason, Haku kind of wants there to be.

"Oh!" the girl suddenly exclaims, looking at the clock above the door. "I should head home! It's getting late, and I always get so sleepy whenever it gets dark outside." She looks bashful as she says this, and without realizing it, Haku smiles at her childlike demeanor. Then, her eyes widen when she sees a few strands of turquoise hair fall from beneath her beanie.

"Bye!" the girl calls with a wave, not even noticing that her disguise had just given her away. Haku waves back, entranced, as the realization slowly strikes her. Before she can call her back, the girl disappears into the night.

...No way. No fucking way. Haku's heart feels like exploding out of her chest as she takes in all that just transpired. No wonder the girl sounded familiar. No wonder she seemed disappointed when she said she didn't like Hatsune Miku. No wonder she had her hood up with a hat to cover her hair.

Slowly, with bated breath, Haku looks down at the napkin to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough, right beneath the phone number is a small signature: _Miku._

"Oh my god," Haku says aloud, slamming her head on the table, "oh my fucking god."

She had just talked to Hatsune Miku. And Hatsune Miku had _given her her phone number._

"Haku, you useless lesbian," she murmured to herself, glancing over at the unfinished bubble tea.


End file.
